


Next Time

by tuesday



Category: Naruto
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Mission Fic, implied minor character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:33:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24329584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tuesday/pseuds/tuesday
Summary: Rock Lee was on a mission.  He would succeed or die trying.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 40
Collections: Exchange no Jutsu 2020





	Next Time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mirdbird](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mirdbird/gifts).



Rock Lee was on a mission. He would succeed or die trying.

"No one is going to die," Tenten said. She had a long, thin scratch along her chin where she hadn't pulled away in time to match the scratch on Lee's left cheek.

"He might die," Neji said. He stood several feet apart from Tenten and Lee, though keeping his distance from his teammates hadn't helped him fare any better with the cat.

"I admire your youthful spirit," Guy said, standing in a cool, confident pose that showcased how unaffected he was by their recent trial. "But don't worry. Though she has bested many a genin in the short term, Tora has never actually killed anyone."

"Not for lack of trying," Neji said, glaring darkly at his scratched hands. Guy had forbidden him from attempting to seal tenketsu on a cat—Lee hadn't even realized until today that cat could _have_ tenketsu—but Neji looked close to breaking that edict. 

"We can do this," Tenten said. She straightened up, taking Guy's confidence and projecting it back to all of them. She was an inspiration.

"We can!" Rock Lee agreed, ignoring his own bleeding arms and hands as he clenched his fists with determination.

"I refuse to lose to a cat," Neji said.

"I'm so proud of you," Guy said. He clapped Tenten and Lee on their backs and gave Neji a dignified, but encouraging nod. He shoved Tenten and Lee forward. "I know you'll succeed."

It took several hours, several more scratches, and three separate chases through the market, but they did—eventually—succeed.

When it was over, Lee turned to his teammates and, riding the high of victory, asked, "Would you like to celebrate our success with dinner?"

"No," Neji said.

"Maybe next time?" Tenten said. "I kind of want to celebrate our success with a bit of first aid."

Guy looked at Lee with sympathy as his teammates departed. He clasped his hand on Lee's drooping shoulder, gentler than when Lee and Tenten had needed a push. "You didn't catch Tora the first try." His voice was softer than its usual encouraging boom. "But you did catch her."

Lee swallowed. He clenched his hands, the new scabs pulling. In that moment, he vowed that he wouldn't give up.

—

On their first C-rank, Lee's team fought bandits! Real, live bandits wielding poorly forged steel.

It was kind of disappointing, actually. Clearing out bandits was important work, but it wasn't as exciting as it sounded. They were surprisingly easy to take down. Lee thought he could probably fight them with one hand tied behind his back.

"Not everything has to be a challenge," Tenten said. She hit a bandit with the mace she was wielding two-handed, and the bandit dropped their sword, then dropped to the ground.

"This certainly isn't," Neji said dispassionately, jabbing barehanded at his own opponent.

"Every mission has its own challenges," Guy said. He was taking the opportunity to teach them even in the middle of a brawl, because he really was the best possible teacher. He was mostly holding back and letting Lee, Tenten, and Neji fight for themselves, but he would swoop in occasionally to knock someone down. "But a mission is not the time to make things harder on yourself."

Lee winced and took the implied criticism as an important lesson. Was this mission less exciting than he'd anticipated? Maybe! But it was also a good opportunity to advance as a shinobi. Being bored was its own challenge to overcome. Not every mission could be rescuing princesses or freeing oppressed nations. For the safety of the common people, sometimes a mission was beating up bandits or delivering grain. At least this was better than facing off against Tora or another babysitting job.

"I will face all my opponents at full strength!" Lee promised.

His full strength sent a bandit straight through a tree.

Tenten gave an admiring whistle.

Neji scoffed. "Aren't we supposed to avoid killing them?"

"A valiant effort, but perhaps use a bit less force. They can't reinforce with chakra," Guy advised him.

After the surviving bandits had been handed over to the local authorities and their team had returned to Konoha, Tenten turned to Lee and Neji and said, "Dinner?" 

Lee smiled, but he knew it wasn't his best. "Next time," Lee promised.

"I'll hold you to that," Tenten said.

—

A B-rank was fresh, new, and exciting! And seemed on first glance to be poorly suited to their team.

"Are you sure we're the best fit for this?" Tenten asked, voicing what they were surely all feeling.

There were many teams well-suited to stealth and espionage. Team Guy wasn't one of them. They worked hard and were very good at what they did. What they did was destroy the opposition. They were a wrecking ball in team form. 

"We need to steal the painting back," Guy said, flashing them a reassuring grin. "I have the utmost faith in you to do that."

"We'll be caught," Neji said, but it wasn't said with the same doubt Lee was currently feeling. It was almost considering.

Tenten brightened. "The mission scroll doesn't say anything about stealing it undetected. Do we get to do a smash and grab?"

Lee perked up, too. As one, he, Neji, and Tenten directed their hopeful stares in Guy's direction.

"We," Guy said in a solemn voice, "are going to do the most spectacular smash and grab this art thief has ever seen."

Between Lee's enthusiastic recklessness, Tenten's utter disregard for property damage, and Neji's focused determination, the thief's collection was in shambles, his clientele was scared off, and his reputation was in tatters. Their client was extremely satisfied.

"It's not enough to recover your property," the client said. She clutched her newly returned painting to herself with all the enthusiasm Madam Shijimi had displayed whenever they'd reunited her with Tora. "You have to send a message."

"Message sent," Tenten said. Lee gave a supporting thumbs up from behind her. Neji nodded seriously.

Once they were done debriefing, Neji stopped Tenten and Lee from leaving. His usually aloof expression betrayed the barest hint of vulnerability. "Team dinner?"

Lee shot a look at Tenten, who seemed just as surprised by this turn of events as Lee was. She turned a bright smile on Neji and answered for them both: "We'd love to."


End file.
